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Monday, September 12, 2016

A Trip Report: Flying LCC's in South Africa - Mango Airlines and Kulula.com

Fly low cost has it
perks and challenges, but low-cost carriers are so wide spread and now cover
destinations that the main carriers do not serve (or have leased out this route
to their LCC partner). When flying domestically
within South Africa, the majority of the flights were operated by low-cost
carriers. There are two dominant LCCs in
South Africa – Mango Airlines and Kulula.com.
Mango Airlines is the low cost arm of South African Airways, while Kulula.com
is part of ComAir which is a part of British Airways. We were flying between Johannesburg and Cape
Town, and between Johannesburg and Durban and on both sectors the most
convenient, and cost effective option, were on low-cost carriers. I wanted to try both options so we choose the
following: Mango for Johannesburg to Cape Town; Kulula.com for Cape Town to
Johannesburg; and Mango for Johannesburg to Durban and return.

My experience with
LCCs is that it’s better to book earlier in order to get the cheapest fare, as
usually prices continue to increase from there.
Because I am based in the U.S., I used a U.S. based travel website to
book the flights. I used this method for
1) to ensure that my credit card was charged in US dollars, thus eliminating
any international transaction fee and any currency conversion fee; and 2) booking
through this method also allowed me to pair Mango on the outbound and
Kulula.com on the return all on one ticket.
I used the same method to book the Johannesburg to Durban flight, even
though both sectors by operated by Mango.
I have previously done this when booking international travel, and
usually this works out fine in terms of price and convenience – but it did not
work this time in terms of price. In the
time between flight booking and flight departure Mango had many sale
fares. The price for my Durban flight
dropped at least three times, but because I had booked through a third party I
had no recourse in terms accessing the sale fares. Another issue I came across is that as Mango is
a low-cost arm of South African, so the flights can either be booked directly
through Mango or as South African Airways operated by Mango Airlines. My flights were booked as the later, so any
changes or modifications that needed to be made were done by South African
rather than through Mango.

Both Mango and
Kulula operated a similar low-cost model.
This meant that they both offered lower fares than their competitors,
both charged for pre-assigned seats (free seat selection was available at
check-in 24-hours prior to your departure), and both offered a basic on-board
service with buy on-board options. They also both operated the same aircraft, Boeing 737-800s. What
was different about these low-cost carriers was that included in your ticket
was a small carryon plus 20kg of checked baggage. Most low-cost carriers usually charge for
checked baggage, so the fact that these were included was a nice bonus (and
even though my luggage was below the allowance, the attendants were not that
strict about the luggage adherence).
Despite the similarities, each airline offered a unique flight
experience; some good, some bad.

Our first flight
was with Mango Airlines from Johannesburg to Cape Town, with a flight time of
1hr 45mins. We checked into our flight
24-hrs prior and were able to pre-select our seats at no cost. There were a lot of choices and we were able
to get two aisles in rows 3 and 4. Even
though it was a domestic flight and you only needed to be there 1 hour before
departure, we were extra cautious and arrived 2 hours early. There was no one in the check-in line and we
were able to easily and quickly drop our bags off and head through security to
our gate. Boarding started 30 minutes
prior to departure, and Mango used both the forward and rear doors to board –
those seated in the back boarded through the back door via the stairs while
those in the front boarded via the jetbridge.
This allowed for faster boarding ensured all passengers were boarded and
ready to go in time for our scheduled departure.

On board, Mango offered
a very nice product. The color scheme
made the plane looked new and fresh, and the plane was relatively clean so it
provided a good first impression. The
seats were very comfortable – they were slim-line seats but had enough cushion
to provide a decent seat for the flight.
The seats were also pre-reclined which allowed for great legroom; in
fact the legroom was one of the best I have ever experienced on any airline. I am tall (6’1) and the leg room was
definitely enough for me – I had room to spare even.

As it is a low-cost
carrier, the on-board service was sparse.
Mango operates a buy on-board product, so if you wanted anything from
water to food it had to be purchased.
Snacks and drinks were always available, while food availability was dependent
on the flight time. To pass the flight
time, the airline did show some variety programs (prank shows) on the overhead
screens, had their airline magazine available in the pocket, and offered free newspapers
at the check-in counter. Other than
this, it was up to you to provide your own entertainment. Wifi was available at a charge, but I did not
try it out. Overall, Mango provided a
decent low-cost experience. They offered
inexpensive fares and for that low fare you got a decent product with
comfortable seats and above average legroom.
It was a pleasant experience on-board Mango.

On our return trip,
we decided to try kulula.com from Cape Town to Johannesburg. The flight time was again 1hr 45minutes, and
24-hrs prior we checked in and selected our seats at no-cost. We arrived at the airport early and again
there was no line so it was quick and easy to drop off our bags and head
through security. The scheduled time for
boarding and the flight came and went, but we were in line with no announcement
from the airline. There were other flights
that were delayed and taking off at the same time, and apparently the airline
cannot operate two flights at the same time (or that are how it appeared);
because only after sending off that flight did they start the boarding process
for our flight. The airplane was parked
at a remote stand, so we boarded the buses at

the time our flight was supposed
to take off. The buses took us to the
remote stand where we boarded our flight.
On-board, the plane was dirty and the seats were worn out. The slim-line seats had little to no padding
and made it a very uncomfortable flight.
Even though the seats were pre-reclined, there was no legroom at all in
between the seats; my knees were literally hitting the seat in front of
me. It was an extremely uncomfortable
and tight seat. The on-board service was
similar to that of Mango’s in that they had a buy on-board product, they showed
some variety programs (again, prank shows), you could read the airline’s magazine
(if you could find it), or you could get the free newspaper at the check-in
counter. Overall, it was not a pleasant
experience with kulula.com given the uncomfortable and tight seats. Also, the plane was dirty and the seats
looked worn out.

I was able to
experience Mango Airlines again from Durban to Johannesburg (I was also
supposed to take it from Johannesburg to Durban, but I changed my flight to
experience South African Airways domestic product – and the review of that
flight can be found under South African Airways). This flight was only 45 minutes but the
experience, and the seat quality and pitch, were the same as my earlier flight on
Mango. Overall, it was a pleasant
experience.

In the end, flying two different LCC's in South Africa was very interesting. Both carriers are associated with legacy carriers, something that you do not see very often, and both include free checked luggage and free newspapers as part of their offerings. Despite these similarities, their on-board products are very different. Flying on-board Mango does not feel like a LCC as they provide comfortable seats and ample legroom, but they only offer buy on-board so this reminds you of their LCC model. Flying on-board Kulula.com and you feel like you are flying the 'stereo-typical LCC' with cramped and uncomfortable seats. Both offer low-fares and are mostly serving the domestic South African market, so whichever you take - happy flying :)